Office of University Communications
University of Nebraska–Lincoln

The all-stars of digital humanities research are coming to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

From July 16-19, UNL's Center for Digital Research in the Humanities will host Digital Humanities 2013, an international conference organized by the Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations. Held annually since 1990 and generally considered the most distinguished in the field of digital humanities, the conference will be attended by more than 425 people from 24 nations.

"This is a conference that has been held in places like the University of Hamburg in Germany and Stanford University," said Katherine Walter, co-director of the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities and professor in University Libraries. "To be selected as host recognizes both the importance of digital humanities at UNL and the tremendous amount of support digital research in the humanities has received from this administration."

The conference features an opening keynote lecture by David Ferriero, the archivist of the United States, on July 16. Plenary lecturers include Willard McCarty, professor at King's College London and the University of Western Sydney, and a fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute; and Isabel Galina, a researcher at the National University of Mexico.

McCarty will deliver the Roberto Busa Prize Lecture at 3:30 p.m. July 18. He is working on "Machines of Demanding Grace," a book about the interrelation of the humanities and computing.

Galina gives the conference's closing lecture at 3:30 p.m. July 19. She has been involved in numerous initiatives related to institutional repositories, digitization projects, electronic publishing and the use and visibility of digital resources at the National University of Mexico.

All three lectures will be streamed live online at http://netnebraska.org/stream/library. Conference events will take place on UNL's City Campus and at Embassy Suites, 1040 P St. Registration is required to attend conference events. An overview of the conference, including an event schedule, is available at http://dh2013.unl.edu.

The Alliance of Digital Humanities is an organization of six international groups -- the European Association for Digital Humanities, Association for Computers and the Humanities, Canadian Society for Digital Humanities, centerNet, Australasian Association for Digital Humanities and the Japanese Association for Digital Humanities. The alliance is designed to promote and support digital research and teaching across all arts and humanities disciplines. Acting as a community-based advisory group, the alliance supports excellence in research, publication, collaboration and training.

"Many of the people coming to the conference are members of the boards of the different organizations in the Alliance of Digital Humanities," Walter said. "They are the world's leaders in digital humanities research."

UNL's Center for Digital Research in the Humanities is a joint initiative of University Libraries and the College of Arts and Sciences. The center advances collaborative, interdisciplinary research in the humanities by creating unique digital content and developing tools for scholarly discovery. Recognized as a national leader in the field, it sponsors forums, workshops, and research fellowships for faculty and students in digital scholarship.

The Center for Digital Research in the Humanities was designated a center in 2005 by the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. UNL has invested $3.9 million in the center. For more information, go to http://cdrh.unl.edu.